Written and directed by Barry Smoot, the Paramount's artistic director, the play may seem familiar in more ways than one. Most everyone knows the classic 1843 Charles Dickens story, "A Christmas Carol." And many here in Abilene might remember "A West Texas Christmas Carol," also written by Smoot and performed for the first time in 1996. It was last on the Paramount stage in 2001.

Smoot's latest version of Scrooge's nightmarish journey through his past, his present and his frightening future debuted last year at the Paramount.

One of the more unusual aspects of this retelling of the famed story is the music. Inspired by the emergence of modern folk music, Smoot took the play back to the roots of that music, back to the time of the Dust Bowl and Depression in Texas. The setting? Dickens, Texas, in the 1930s.

Smoot also changed the style of presentation, changing the play from a traditional one-actor, one-role formula to shrinking the cast down and giving the actors multiple roles. He said he wanted to create a storytelling experience.

The cast portrays an itinerant band of actors, traveling across the landscape and putting on plays wherever they are welcomed. At times, cast members break through the fourth wall and speak to the audience. At other times, the actors play actors playing roles.

Smoot instructed the actors to be themselves as much as possible when they portray the acting troupe members. The actors change costumes right on stage.

"Once they come on stage, they never leave," he said.

Mary Glover plays four roles in the production and was in last year's show as well. She also acted in "A West Texas Christmas Carol."

Glover said one of the things about "A Christmas Carol" is that it's a familiar story that holds up even after all this time.

"It's just a great story, with a new and different way to tell it," Glover said. "Everybody can find something in the story they can identify with."

Musician/songwriter/actress Lori Sims brings all of her talents to the stage for this show: She plays three characters, wrote an original song for the show and plays music throughout most of the production.

"Adding the folk element makes it more Texas," Sims said.

Abilene's stages are no strangers to Darrell Vinson, who got the meaty role of Scrooge. He said he auditioned because it seemed like a fun show.

"It's not Dickens," Vinson said about the play. "It's something completely other."

Though the play is not a musical, there is so much music in it that it took concentration and perfect timing on the part of the actors.

"You have to learn to stop and wait for the music," Vinson said.

Because of the Paramount's full schedule, Monday night was the cast's first time to go through a rehearsal at the theater. Previous rehearsals had been in the Elks Building.

Besides the addition of music, Smoot uses movie clips from the 1930s and earlier as part of the storytelling. Shirley Temple plays the Ghost of Christmas Present, setting up an interesting twist.

Smoot also employs other touches to create a Texas feel onstage. Jacob Marley is wrapped in rope instead of chains, and Scrooge is an oil baron who owns all the water rights in the area and dams up the water.